Dragon Hunting
by Raberba girl
Summary: Sanosuke and Yahiko are dragon hunting.


Dragon Hunting  
A Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl

A/N: Of the three RK dragon ideas I came up with after _Sapphire Scales_, this is the light-hearted one, but it didn't turn out very funny or interesting. Thought I'd post it anyway, for whatever it's worth.

--

"The eyeballs are the best," Sanosuke was saying enthusiastically, "because they're not protected as much as the rest of them, _and_ you've got a blind dragon to boot. It's beautiful!"

"Actually it sounds pretty gross," Yahiko mumbled. The two of them were hiking up a mountain, heading for the dragon's lair where they knew a fierce beast resided. "So what happens if you can't reach the eyes? I've heard dragons get pretty big."

Sanosuke shrugged. "Then you go for the under-armor - it's softer - or you try to stick a spear down its throat when it lunges for you. Just make sure to watch out for the teeth, and the claws - both front and back. And the tail. And the fire-breath, of course. Oh, and try not to let it fly, 'cause then you're a sitting duck."

"Oh thanks, I'll make sure to keep all that in mind," Yahiko shot back, suddenly queasy. This had probably been a mistake....

Both young men came to a sudden halt. A creature had come around a bend in the path, its crimson scales gleaming in the sunlight and a wooden bucket clenched in its teeth by the handle. It froze when it saw them, and for a moment both parties regarded each other in surprise.

"Is that a dragon?" Yahiko finally exclaimed. "He's kind of...small." Dragons were supposed to be huge, big enough to easily squash houses. This little red creature was about the size of a dog.

"Hey!" Sanosuke cried gleefully. "It's a baby, Yahiko! You lucked out and got an easy first job. Come on, let's skewer him!"

At this, the dragon promptly dropped its bucket and fled. The boys gave chase, yelling, but by the time they caught up to their quarry, it had taken refuge in a tree and was hissing down at them. As Sanosuke growled back and circled the tree, trying to figure out how best to climb it, Yahiko was looking uneasily at the yawning cave mouth behind them. "Uh...Sanosuke...what if its mom comes out, all mad that we're attacking her kid?"

At a sudden scuffling sound from inside the cave, Sanosuke whirled to join him. The two of them waited tensely, weapons at the ready. A soft light appeared, moving through the darkness, and a female voice startled them both. "Kenshin? Did you fetch that water already?"

Sanosuke's and Yahiko's mouths dropped open as a girl came out of the cave, carrying a lamp. She frowned in confusion when she saw them, but in the next instant they were knocked to the ground. Something hot and heavy was sitting on their backs, and sharp claws were pressed threateningly against the backs of their necks. Their weapons had been thrown out of reach.

"Kaoru-dono," a calm voice spoke above their heads, "they are dragon hunters, that they are. Please stay back."

"It talks!" Sanosuke shrieked, moving suddenly in an attempt to get away. He made a choking sound when he found that succeeding in such an action would have resulted in more blood than he was willing to spare.

"You never told me they could talk!" Yahiko accused.

"This one is willing to let you go," the dragon said conversationally, "if you will promise never to trouble us again. Please understand that if you make such a promise without intending to keep it, you will not be offered leniency a second time."

"Were you trying to kill my dragon?" the girl exclaimed indignantly.

"_Your_ dragon?" Sanosuke shot back. "He's not a _pet_ for crying out loud!"

"Looks like one," Yahiko mumbled, fighting the crazy urge to snicker.

"He's dangerous!"

"My Kenshin is _not_ dangerous," the girl huffed.

"Kaoru-dono..." the dragon murmured, sounding a little wounded.

"Look, let us up already," Yahiko said. "We won't hurt you or your...uh...friend."

"Whaddaya mean we won't hurt him?" Sanosuke raged. "I'll tear the little hatchling to pieces as soon as I can get up!"

"Well that's not very persuasive, is it," the dragon commented. "And this one is full grown, by the way." It cautiously released Yahiko, and in the next second found itself occupied with an angry Sanosuke. Yahiko and the girl watched as the two of them went at it, Sanosuke yelling lustily, the dragon with calm, efficient movements, quick as lightning.

"Serves him right," the girl said in satisfaction. "Attacking my Kenshin like that...."

"Who are you, anyway?" Yahiko wondered. "How'd you end up with a dragon?"

"How do _all_ maidens end up with dragons? My name is Kamiya Kaoru. I was offered as a sacrifice, _supposedly_ to placate the Beast of the Mountain, by that scum of the earth, Kihei." She growled, reaching absently for the bokutō at her side. "That slimeball...next time I see him, I'm beating him senseless."

"So I take it you survived," Yahiko said dryly, and was a little startled with the depth of her sudden smile.

"Kenshin isn't a Beast at all. He's _adorable_. And he does all the chores, so I don't have to lift a finger!"

"Uh huh." Yahiko glanced back at the fight, where Sanosuke was hacking away at a red blur that seemed to have successfully eluded him so far. "Who'd have thought...."

He stumbled at a sudden shaking of the ground. "An earthquake?" he said in alarm. He looked at Kaoru, but she was looking up instead of down, her expression apprehensive. "Kaoru?"

Her eyes shot back to his. "You ever heard of honorifics, jerk?"

The combatants had paused, too. The dragon, Kenshin, was looking in the same direction Kaoru had. Sanosuke's anger clouded over with confusion as he exclaimed, "What's that?" The earth was still shaking, regular thumps as if something very large was approaching.

"All of you, get into the cave," the dragon said suddenly.

"Kenshin!" Kaoru cried.

It (he?) glanced back at her. "It's all right, Kaoru-dono. This one will handle it, that he will."

"Handle what?" Sanosuke demanded, but just then the source of the disturbance came into sight. It was another dragon, this one a proper size, looming up over them at easily five times Sanosuke's height. It opened its mouth and roared.

"What is it, Raijuuta?" Kenshin said irritably. There was another roar that sounded like a menacing response, and then Kenshin looked back at the staring humans. "Why aren't you in the cave yet?"

"A big dragon fighting a tiny dragon," Sanosuke said slowly. He grinned and crossed his arms. "This I gotta see."

"Get him, Kenshin!" Kaoru cheered.

"So we're _not_ fighting the huge dragon, and we're _not_ going to hide in the cave?" Yahiko said in confusion.

The Raijuuta dragon opened its mouth and blasted a wall of flame at them. "Kaoru-dono!" Kenshin cried, but the dragon hunters were ready. Both were already smeared with a fire-repellant salve, and their reaction was swift as they whipped out a red cloak and shielded both themselves and Kaoru under it. When the rush of heat died away, the three emerged from under it, a little singed but otherwise none the worse for wear.

"Wh-What happened?!" Kaoru squeaked in confusion.

"Ooh, Yahiko, looks like the beastie involved innocent bystanders," Sanosuke said gleefully. "Let's get him!"

"Uh...I think Kenshin beat us to it," Yahiko remarked.

As soon as he had seen that Kaoru was safe, Kenshin had flown at Raijuuta like a streak of crimson lightning. Even as Raijuuta was turning his head, the smaller dragon had seized the tip of his wing in his teeth and seemed to be trying to wrap it backwards around him. Raijuuta bellowed in pain and swatted at him, but the little red dragon was too small and swift for the deadly claws to even come close.

Kenshin landed and braced all four sets of claws, straining to keep the bigger dragon pinned; he was startled when Sanosuke suddenly appeared and drove an enormous weapon into Raijuuta's wing tip. Kenshin let go and gazed up at Sanosuke in astonishment. Raijuuta, howling, rolled free of his own wing but then was brought up short.

"That's the zanbatō you're dealing with," Sanosuke told him in satisfaction. "Even a big lug like you won't be able to tug free so easy."

Raijuuta's eyes narrowed and clouded over with a fierce golden hue, the indication of a dragon's rage. The claws came down to snap the huge blunt sword in half and the wing came free, trailing blood. Kenshin wasted no time in springing up into the air near Raijuuta's head to savage his face. The bigger dragon bellowed and fought back with head, claws, and wings, but Kenshin was too small to hit.

Unheeded, Raijuuta's huge tail was swishing around on the ground, putting the humans in danger. Yahiko dragged Kaoru aside as Sanosuke, roaring about his lost zanbatō, charged back at Raijuuta with his bare fists.

"That idiot's gonna get killed!" Kaoru exclaimed.

"No...he's been fighting dragons for a long time," Yahiko explained.

Kaoru frowned. "How? He doesn't look that old."

"Nineteen, he says. But his family was killed by a dragon; he's been avenging them ever since."

"Oh," Kaoru said softly. She eyed the boy. "What about you?"

Yahiko shrugged. "I don't care about dragons one way or the other." He smiled tightly. "But Sanosuke feeds me better than anything I'd get on the streets." Kaoru stared down at him, but he refused to look at her. It was obvious that the subject was closed.

"Futae no kiwami!"

Raijuuta howled again and slashed at the spiky-haired young man in white, even as large cracks blossomed over his scales. There was murder in his eyes, but Kenshin dove again and re-captured his attention.

"Why's the big dragon attacking us, anyway?" Yahiko wanted to know. "Isn't your Kenshin thing a dragon, too?"

"Other dragons don't like him," Kaoru admitted, "because he's so small and fights better than them and is nice to humans. Raijuuta isn't the first who's come to challenge Kenshin since I've been here."

"He's _nice_ to humans?" Yahiko repeated incredulously. "Why?"

"Because that's just how he is!" she said defensively. "I mean...he doesn't go out of his way to talk to humans or anything, they'd try to kill him. But...." Her voice trailed into a grumble. "Well, just for an example, I'm not the first maiden sacrifice he's rescued."

"I bet you're the first one who kept living with him afterwards," Yahiko muttered with a grin.

Her face flared red. "And why shouldn't I?! It's not like I have anywhere else to go!" Then she turned away, unwilling to reveal more.

With a thunderous, drawn-out crash, Raijuuta came sprawling down full-length on the ground, out cold. Sanosuke grinned and gestured victoriously at Yahiko as Kenshin nosed at the fallen dragon, making sure he wasn't bluffing. Then he nodded in satisfaction and came trotting back to Kaoru.

"Kenshin, you were wonderful!" she cheered, picking him up so she could cuddle him.

"Kaoru-dono," he mumbled in embarrassment. Then his head came up as Sanosuke approached, and he quickly wriggled out of Kaoru's arms to crouch protectively in front of her.

"I'm not gonna hurt her," Sanosuke said harshly, his face coloring. "Or...or you either, okay? At least for now."

"Changed your mind?" Kenshin said stiffly.

Sanosuke rubbed the back of his uneasily, then finally burst out, "There's something weird about you!"

"Just figured that out, Sanosuke?" Yahiko laughed.

"No," he went on angrily. "It's just...you're _little_. And you--" He broke off for a moment. "How many people have you killed in just the last month?" he challenged, his eyes hard.

"None!" Kenshin and Kaoru burst out together, indignant. "Kenshin hasn't even stolen anything," Kaoru went on defensively. "All the animals he catches are wild."

"The perfect dragon, eh?" Sanosuke said skeptically. "So you're expecting me to believe you've never killed anyone at all."

"Of course not," Kaoru insisted haughtily. "Kenshin would _never_ do anything like that."

Everyone paused, then looked down at Kenshin, who had been silent. He was fidgeting a little.

"Kenshin?" Kaoru insisted, and Sanosuke quietly clenched a hand into a fist.

"No human in the past ten years has lost life to this one," Kenshin finally said. "Is that enough for you or no?" The small body was coiled in readiness to continue fighting, but the eyes were free of even a tinge of gold.

Kaoru and Yahiko looked back and forth between them, until Sanosuke finally sighed. "It's not enough," he said gruffly. "The only good dragon is a dead dragon. But...like I said, you're pretty weird." He stabbed a finger in Kenshin's direction. "I'll let you off the hook for today, but I'll be back. You hear me? I wanna be here to see you prove yourself no better than the rest of these monsters."

"How dare you--" Kaoru started, but broke off in surprise when Kenshin's tail curled soothingly around her ankle.

"It's all right, Kaoru-dono."

"But Kenshin--!"

"Really," he said quietly, not looking at any of them. "It is far more than is to be expected from a hunter of dragons." Kenshin and Sanosuke nodded to each other with the mutual respect of enemies. Sanosuke retrieved his remaining weapons and walked off, raising a couple of fingers in salute without looking behind him. Yahiko paused, then nodded and followed after him.

When they were out of sight, Kaoru knelt and pulled Kenshin back into her arms. "Kenshin," she said worriedly. "What did you mean, when you said you hadn't killed anyone in ten years? Does that mean that...before that you...?"

He rested his head on her shoulder sadly. "This one is a dragon, Kaoru-dono. The life this one leads now is not...natural."

She bit her lip. "Well, I like it better," she finally decided.

"This one does too," he agreed.

--

Author's Notes: The opening scene came to me strongly, but when I wrote it down and waited for more, none came. Finally I started typing something with Raijuuta and left it as a one-shot, which is how it will stay unless I get any ideas for a plot. (I was not expecting all four of them to offer hints at a past, but none of them elaborated further.)

The anti-fire salve is from Robin McKinley's _The Hero and the Crown_, and the cloak is from _Inuyasha_.


End file.
